In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce an English comedian, actor and conspiracy theorist, Russell Brand (@rustyrockets). He's best-known for his tendency to spread conspiracy theories and for his anti-establishment (well, basically their just anti-US/UK policy) views.
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Now, when I say that Brand is a conspiracy theorist, I mean it. It seems that he believes pretty much EVERY conspiracy theory out there, including The Great Reset and "Klaus Schwab taking over the world through WEF", "microchips in vaccines", "Multipolar World",...
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US and CIA-led coup d'etat in Ukraine, and NATO's expansion and proxy war against Russia. Brand's a fan of David Icke, whose worldview contains inter-dimensional, shapeshifting reptilians which have hijacked the earth.
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Icke suggests that various public figures belong to the Babylonian Brotherhood, a fascist group that tries to establish New World Order by suppressing freedom of speech. He also endorses a fabricated, anti-Semitic scripture called " The Protocols of the Elders of Zion".
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When discussing the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, Brand clearly has picked a side - based on Russell, the only culprits of the war are the US and the "military industrial complex". And most probably Klaus Schwab and his evil association known as the World Economic Forum...
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The basic argument is that everything is infiltrated & everyone is controlled by the "deep state",thus making any kind of democratic efforts pointless. I mean,one of the title of his videos is "Prince Harry Saga – The TRUTH About The Deep State?" (with Clare Daly by the way) 6/18
As too many actors and actresses on social media, Brand has a huge following: he has over 6 million subscribers of YouTube and over 1 million over on Rumble. On Twitter, he has a whopping 11 million followers, even though it's mainly used for channeling people...
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...to his YT and Rumble podcasts. This makes him one of the biggest outlets for conspiratorial content, and he's only surpassed by maybe Elon Musk, Joe Rogan and Donald Trump. After YouTube took down one of Brand's COVID-19 themed videos in...
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..Sep, 2022, he moved to less-censored Rumble. Worried about losing that sweet, sweet YouTube money, Brand even produced an apology video but eventually took it down and said that "we made an error, in my opinion a relatively small error, and we are being ...
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...penalised,and for me that looks like censorship". As an anti-capitalist, Russell evidently seems to worry about losing his main source of income, probably coming from Samsung and Coca Cola ads. You can also buy his T-shirts with cool anti-establishment statements for as..10/18
..low as 25,99 £. I mean, the man even monetized the famous 12 steps from AA/NA with his 2017 book, Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions.
Watching Russell's podcasts is extremely exhausting, they are an endless stream of rambling about conspiracy theories and how the...
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...mainstream media is quiet about them. But I did it, so you don't have to.
On his show, he's interviewed pro-Kremlin propagandists such as RT-funded Chris Hedges, Glenn Greenwald, Aaron Maté, Jimmy Dore and Seymour Hersh.
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As is tradition, they barely mention Russia, mostly talking about the corruption both in the US and in Ukraine. In Mar 2022, Brand published a video titled "You've Been LIED To About Why Ukraine War Began". The video to date has garnered 3,1 million views, and in it Brand.. 13/18
...suggests, right after he's advertised his stand-up gigs, that the Revolution of Dignity was actually a US-backed coup d'etat. He bases this information on heavily biased op-ed by Branko Marcetic. In said op-ed, Marcetic suggested that the "coup" was funded by the US...
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...because John McCain shook hands with Svoboda leader Oleh Tyahnybok and Victoria Nuland gave out sandwiches to both the protestors and the police, and said "Fuck the EU" during a phone call.
Brand also appeared as a commentator on a fellow anti-capitalist Tucker ...
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...Carlson's show, apparently because he believes "change is possible". The Tucker Carlson, who was so worried about the stock price going down that he had a dissenting co-worker fired. Brand was "surprised" on how many things they "actually agreed on", and for some...
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... reason this whole rant reminded me of a horseshoe.
To conclude, Brand is utilizing his career as a comedian and actor to spread wild conspiracy theories in his podcast with clickbait titles like "Why Zelensky REALLY Wants US Tanks". If there's something he's learned..
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..from the American media culture,it's that fear sells: his rants about the end of days and deep state corruption are often seasoned with ads where he sells his stand-up gig or his mugs and T-shirts with corny slogans. You know, grifting and fearmongering for a hefty profit.18/18
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce Russian propagandist Sergei Tsaulin. He’s best-known for spreading pro-Kremlin narratives in Estonia, fleeing to Russia after breaking several laws in Estonia, and almost getting blown up by a bomb in St. Petersburg.
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For years, Tsaulin was known for organizing marches and events glorifying the Soviet Union. Under the excuse of “remembering history,” these events were nothing more than Kremlin propaganda, wrapped in a red flag with a hammer and sickle.
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One of his most infamous events was the “Immortal Regiment” march, held every 9th of May, where people carried portraits of Soviet soldiers. These marches are used by Russia to push the idea that the Baltics owe their existence to the Soviets.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a podcaster and conspiracy theorist, Joe Rogan (@joerogan). He’s best-known for launching the biggest podcast in the world, promoting various conspiracy theories, his support for Donald Trump and his anti-Ukraine rhetoric.
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Joe Rogan started as a stand-up comedian in the 1980s, found fame on NewsRadio, and became a household name with Fear Factor. But his biggest impact came in 2009 when he launched The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE), one of the first major podcasts.
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JRE started as casual but deep conversations, often covering countercultural topics like psychedelics, MMA & hunting. Joe’s podcasting style is largely non-confrontational, often allowing his guests to share their views without significant pushback or critical questioning.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce KOOS party leader and Estonian crypto businessman Oleg Ivanov. He’s best known for running shady businesses, spreading Russian false narratives in Estonia, and participating in the pro-Kremlin political party KOOS.
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As a talented youngster, Oleg learned Estonian almost flawlessly, was a promising karate athlete, and landed a job at a law firm at just 20. He caught the eye of Estonian fuel entrepreneur Endel Siff, who quickly took him under his wing.
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Oleg’s father, Vladimir Ivanov, was a longtime politician from the Russian-funded United People’s Party of Estonia. His career at the town hall ended abruptly when he was caught drunk at work. After that, he went into business with his son, Oleg.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about the takeover of social media by illiberal, populist influencers. For the last ten years, social media has been dominated by these voices and it is one of the main reasons for the political rise of people like Trump and Orban.
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“Illiberal populists” like Trump reject democratic norms while claiming to speak for “the people.” They centralize power, attack institutions, and push nationalism over rights. Elections exist, but checks & balances erode. This is democracy in name, autocracy in action.
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The media landscape has changed drastically over the past two decades. The Internet and social media have changed how we interact online & how we consume media,but it has also become our main source of news. In many ways,social media companies have control over information.